


Sneaky

by rinetherein



Category: Stand Still Stay Silent
Genre: Cookies, Fluff, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-10
Updated: 2016-02-10
Packaged: 2018-05-19 11:56:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5966566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rinetherein/pseuds/rinetherein
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Emil can't sleep. He envies Lalli's apparent ability to sleep... well, wherever and whenever. A quick little drabble-thing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sneaky

Carefully lifting the blanket that draped over the edge of the bed adjacent to his, Emil Västerstrom peered into the dark space that lay beneath. It was pitch black, and if it wasn’t for a slight shuffling sound and the movements of light hair catching what little illumination there was in the surprisingly cozy vehicle, it could have been mistaken for vacant. Emil smiled somewhat enviously. 

He himself certainly couldn’t manage to sleep, but he was glad his Finnish friend seemed to have found it soundly. He let the blanket fall back to the ground and felt his way back down to his previous position. 

Sooner or later he’d have to pass out, right? 

Around him were the sounds of slumber. Mikkel’s deep and heavy breaths, Sigrun’s occasional mumblings and snorts, Reynir’s persistent snoring, and the thankfully only occasionally audible breaths from Lalli under the bed and his cousin in the bunk above. Blankets would rustle as another would shift positions, and on occasion someone would rise for any number of nighttime needs and their silhouettes ambling about would tear Emil’s mind from slumber. 

It was most certainly less than ideal. Emil didn’t think he had ever had more trouble sleeping, even in his early days as a Cleanser. Perhaps Lalli was even more used to conditions such as these, and in that thought Emil found comfort; perhaps eventually he’d learn as well. Regardless, the current situation was unpleasant, and the next morning Emil was going to be quite drowsy. 

The telltale rustling of someone in the bunkroom rising broke the other patterned sounds. Quiet, but out of place. Emil rolled over, facing the wall of the bunker, and waited to hear the sounds of the night-walker returning to their bed. 

Which wall was he up against? Was it the wall adjacent to the storage, or was it the wall right next to the outdoors? If the trusty vehicle were to be attacked, would his wall be the first to fall? If he were asleep, would he be the first casualty? 

_Perhaps it’s a good thing I’m still awake,_ he thought upon this unsettling realization. _No worries about the indignity of being taken out in my sleep._

What would he do, though? In bed, wrapped up underneath warm blankets and unable to see, he wouldn’t stand a chance anyhow. It was unlikely anyone would be up and alert quickly enough to do anything soon enough. 

Lalli had managed to predict the attack on their unfortunate train ride, though. He’d warned Emil, thrusting half of a seatbelt into his hands and tying himself up inside his own only moments before a jarring impact and undeniable aura of panic. 

The quiet mage was their only hope, no doubt. The only warning they’d have, the last line of defense --

A soft touch on his shoulder made Emil jolt and nearly cry out. He rolled over as hastily as he could, finding himself nose to nose with a blonde scout crouched next to his cot, eyes faintly glowing and unblinking. 

“Goodness, Lalli, you really scared me,” Emil whispered harshly, patting Lalli’s head hesitantly. “What do you want? Why aren’t you asleep?” 

Emil was very concerned, his last train of thought considered. Lalli couldn’t be warning about an impending attack. He’d be waking the others and not just him in that situation. Right? 

Lalli just blinked. He was, as always, completely impossible to read. Emil sighed.

“I guess that’s two of us that’ll be exhausted in the morning. I thought you were asleep.” 

Emil retracted his hand, only to have Lalli gently take it again. Lalli gingerly spread his fingers and set something rough and round in Emil’s palm.

“What’s this?” Emil hissed, feeling the caved, cracked and rigid surface under his fingers. Small crumbs skittered off of it. 

The blue eyes squinted slightly in what Emil considered to be a smile. A soft crunch from the mage’s direction came, and Emil could barely make out Lalli’s hands in front of his mouth. 

“I - are these the cookies Mikkel had?” Emil struggled to contain his amusement to a level appropriate for group sleeping quarters. Lalli’s only response was to grab Emil’s wrist and move the hand holding the apparent cookie towards his face. Emil gladly bit into it, and Lalli’s eyes closed. Emil imagined this was an expression of contentment. Glad to be understood. 

“I see,” he tried to say quietly, his mouth full. He intended to express thanks, but Lalli put his finger over Emil’s lips for just a second, then gently patted his hair. The eyes turned away and soft sounds indicated that he was slinking back into his den under the cot. 

Emil tried to finish the cookie as quietly as possible. It was, for the time, a refreshing treat; he found himself thinking that the porridge-like meal Mikkel typically concocted in the mornings would seem a little disappointing upon his awakening.

Some crumbs gritted against his arms when he bundled himself up for another attempt to catch some sleep. He brushed them off, and found himself drifting off again. Perhaps this would be the real thing. He really, truly felt drowsy this time.

 _What a nice addition this was to his image of Lalli. Quiet, cat-like, and a habitual cookie-thief,_ Emil thought. He closed his eyes and finally, with that conclusive thought, he was asleep.

**Author's Note:**

> First little... writing thing I've published in a long time. It's short. It took me a while to gather the courage to actually do this. 
> 
> I'm very poor with titles and would appreciate any other suggestions. :P 
> 
> No guarantees as to how active I'll be in the future, but I hope you enjoyed this!


End file.
